Thursday, August 5, 2010

Helicopters Are Circling My House: Time For Some Hip-Hop?

Uh, nope.

This is normal and very much in keeping with my whacky day. Our little “area” is home to a helicopter pilot and local rumor is that on occasion he thinks it’s fun to fly over at the lowest safe distance. At least I hope it’s the lowest safe distance. It feels like he’s gonna fly through my house. The pots and pans are rattling together where they hang on the rack from the ceiling. It’s hard to concentrate on this whole music extravaganza I’m trying to have here. And it has been a looooooong day…so…long day music?

Maybe.

I shall consult with my iTunes and return in five.

(OK….thirty).

And this is what I came up with!

Well, for those of you who thought you really knew me, this ought to crack your noodle wide open. Normally, I don’t ever find albums that I recommend in their entirety. Now I’m doing it two nights in a row and…not only am I going to recommend The In Sound From Way Out…its by the Beastie Boys.

**gasp**

(I probably just lost over half of you. Which isn't saying much. I take that back, laundrettes! I value your readership highly!...Uh, how do I get out of this faux pas in a PC way without...oh heck..just keep reading).

Surprise!!

This is where some musical confusion may ensue. This is not the original The In Sound From Way Out! by Perrey and Kingsley—pioneers of electronic music—published in 1966. It’s an instrumental album by the same name (I guess you could argue in the same vein especially if you compare it to the rest of the Boys’ music) composed of cuts from the Beastie Boys’ albums Check Your Head and Ill Communication and their singles “Sure Shot” and “Jimmie James.”

I was introduced to the Beastie Boys in the eighties and hated them. There. The truth (I just heard one of my good HS buddies hit the dirt and probably Attrition right beside him and probably the remaining half of you knowing my exceptional luck on this day--why do Thursdays reek). Then one day, some fifteen or maybe twenty years later, I was in the car with Attrition listening to this funky acoustic stuff and thinking “this is cool” when he said, “Guess who this is?” I couldn’t guess. When he told me, I thought, “wow, they can actually play” or something to that effect.

Sorry, no lyrics because, well, there aren’t any. This is a pure funky feast for the ears. Unfortunately, you are going to have to take my word on most of that ‘cause the best listening just isn’t out there unless I give you links that point you to free download spots and I simply won’t do that. Already walking a fine line here. If you want to try before you buy, iTunes will let you listen to samples of each song on this particular album to see if you like it. My personal favorites are “Groove Holmes,” “Pow” (my absolute fave…watch..the..tempo), “In 3’s,” and “Eugene’s Lament.” What’s out there to listen to are “Namaste,” “Sure Shot,” and “Shambala.” They are decidedly off the beaten path from my favorites, but oh well. They're still good, just not my faves...eh.

The official group website is seemingly down (http://www.beastieboys.com/) but you can reach the message board which has links to the homepage and everywhere else here. You’ll find that they produced another instrumental album in 2007 called The Mix-Up. I have no personal preference for most of their other music, though I like “Sabotage,” and I’ve not heard The Mix-Up, so I can’t weigh in there...yet. You can learn more about the band here.

Off to rid my bed of scorpions, yes scorpions. Who said I sleep alone??!?
Scat